


But For the Grace of God

by K_Hanna_Korossy



Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-18 03:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4690421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_Hanna_Korossy/pseuds/K_Hanna_Korossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A pair of female detectives charms Hutch, but Starsky has his doubts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But For the Grace of God

Written: 2002

First published in "A Small Circle of Friends 10" (2004)

Based on the Magnificent 7 episode, “Ladykillers”

     The courtroom doors were opened by two bailiffs, just ahead of the pack that flowed out into the previously quiet hallway.  Reporters with microphones, cameramen, and scribbling newspaper correspondents made up the bulk of the crowd, surrounding a few women and a man in their center, all wiping eyes and noses.

     "Mrs. Irwin, how do you feel about this verdict?"

     "Are you happy with the sentence, Ms. Fioriello?"

     "Do you think Ernest Barr is getting the punishment he deserves for killing your sons?"

     No one noticed the two plainclothes officers also leaving the courtroom, skirting the media circus wearily.  

     "Vultures," Starsky muttered under his breath as he stared at the knot of people clogging the court building hallway.

     Hutch simply nodded, his gaze elsewhere.  He was watching the defendant – now the convicted – clad in the fashionable orange jumpsuit of the California penal system, being led out of a side door near the front of the courtroom.  There would be no media frenzy over Ernest Barr, armored car robber and murderer.  He was a high escape risk, denied bail by the grand jury and kept under close guard during the trial.  The rest of his gang was still out there, despite Starsky and Hutch's best efforts, and the LAPD had no intention of letting them anywhere near their captured member.

     Barr's eyes, flat, brown, cold, watched Hutch in turn until he was led out of sight through the door.  No anger, no revenge, no soul at all as far as Ken Hutchinson could tell.  With a repressed shiver, he turned back to his partner.

     "You wanna grab a bite at that Tex-Mex place before we get back to the station?" he asked with determined good cheer.  After a year of investigation, arrest, and courtroom wrangling, Ernest Barr had been sentenced to life in prison.  It was worth celebrating, even with Starsky's questionable taste in cuisine.

     But Starsky shook his head, pulling at his tie.  "Uh-uh, I just wanna get out of this monkey suit.  And Dobey's expecting us."

     Not like their boss's expectations had ever made a great difference, but Hutch didn't push it.  Starsky had been unusually quiet during Barr's trial, for obvious reasons.  One of the armored car drivers killed during the robbery had been an old friend of Starsky's, and it was always a lot tougher when it got personal.  Not just because of the loss of a loved one, but because it took away the distance a cop needed from a crime.  You started to feel too much, and that was always draining.  Dobey had offered them a chance to switch off the case when he'd found out about Jimmy, but Starsky had refused and Hutch had backed him up on it.  Ultimately, it had just made them all the more determined to catch the bad guys.  They had only been able to track down Barr, but the case wasn't closed yet. This was just one very positive step, but Starsky would feel the victory, too, when he had a little distance.

     Leaving the courthouse would be a good start.  It didn't help that Starsky had been kidnapped from that very same building once; it still sent a shiver down Hutch's spine each time he was there, and it had to hold bad memories for Starsky, too.  Getting out of there was definitely a good idea.

     He gave Starsky a nudge and nodded at the door, and his partner tacitly followed him through the throng in the hallway, toward the front entryway.  Side-by-side again, Hutch smiled at another thought.  "Hey, what if we change at Parker, then grab a burger from that joint that just opened around the corner?  Dobey'll never know we were there."

     Starsky was considering that when the first gunshots sounded.

     They instantly scattered as if they'd been expecting it, dropping and diving for the meager cover in the courthouse hallway.  Hutch folded himself behind an ashtray urn while he saw Starsky duck behind the water fountain across the hallway.  But both of them were scrambling for weapons that weren't there, confiscated at the front door before they were allowed into the courthouse.  Starsky's expression of frustration mirrored Hutch's own feelings.  Wonderful, trapped and helpless.

     But the shots weren't in front or behind them.  As the gunplay continued, Hutch ignored the shrieks around him and pinned the shootout as coming from the left, the long hallway that ran along the front of the building, perpendicular to theirs – inaccessible to the public, used only for prisoner transfers.  Like Ernest Barr's.

     Hutch saw Starsky's jaw firm as he came to the same conclusion and, again with wordless coordination, they launched out from their concealment, toward the front door.

     Chaos had taken over outside.  Civilians ran in all directions, ducked down, seeking cover.  The courthouse police had their weapons out but looked equally unsure where to go.  Hutch glanced down the street, at the dark van parked on the corner that stood with its side door open, and swallowed back déjà vu of Starsky's kidnapping.  No time for that now.  Especially as several armed men broke from the corner of the building – the prisoner transfer entrance – and ran toward the van, shooting at anyone who dared get near them.

     Hutch took off in that direction, hearing Starsky pounding behind him.  He'd catch up soon; Hutch was still limping a little as a ran, a lingering effect of having badly broken his leg two months before, but determination won over physical weakness.

An officer abruptly went down in front of him as he watched and Hutch swore, grabbing the man's dropped gun without breaking stride even as the knot of shooters – Barr's gang, no doubt – reached the van.  Barr, still in handcuffs, was shoved in first and Hutch cursed at the proof of what he'd suspected.  But they were going to be too late.

     A car came screeching down the far street, pulling up to the other side of the corner from the van.  It was a convertible, two women already getting out of it and, even as Hutch opened his mouth to yell a warning to them, he realized they were armed, aiming for the gang that was rapidly disappearing into the van.

     What the. . .?

     The woman on the passenger side, a petite redhead, brought down one of the gang with a well-placed shot, even as the rest crammed into the van, the large vehicle already pulling away from the road.  Hutch was still at a bad angle, not close enough for a sure shot, but with a grimace, he planted himself and fired anyway at the closing van door, unsurprised at hearing the shot ping off the rear of the van.  It was soon down the street, out of sight.

     Hutch paused for a second as Starsky joined him, barely out of breath but glaring at the disappearing van.  He had been even farther back and at a worse angle than Hutch, and still unarmed.  Not that you fired your weapon at a moving vehicle with civilians around and that many obstacles, but he didn't have to like it, either.

     The convertible's driver, a slim woman in her twenties with pinned-up brown hair, was dashing around the front of the car to join her friend, and together, guns still drawn, they converged on the downed gang member, who rolled on the grass by the road in clear pain.

     "Call an ambulance," Starsky called from his side and Hutch realized belatedly several officers were finally converging on the scene, and their fallen colleague.  He absently nodded agreement with Starsky's order, but his focus was on the two women, his gun still at ready as he crossed the final yards between them in long, angry strides.

     "Good shot, Maddie," the driver was saying, patting her companion's shoulder as the redhead knelt by the fallen man, poking at his bloody side.

     The redhead looked up at her.  "You think he–?"

     "Ladies," Hutch broke in, close enough now to cover both in his aim.  "Please put your weapons down and your hands up."

     The brunette's shapely eyebrow rose but she immediately complied, slowly setting down her gun and raising her arms just above her head.  Her friend, however, glared at Hutch from where she crouched next to the injured gang member, making no move to obey.

     He was about to repeat himself, in terms that brooked no disagreement, when the brunette spoke again.  "Officer, my name is Detective Kate Tanner, Sacramento PD.  This is my partner, Detective Madeline Crea.  If I can show you my ID. . .?"

     Hutch frowned at her even as her mouth twisted into a small smile, either in sympathy or making fun of him.  But he nodded and followed her movement carefully – and the redhead out of the corner of his eye as she also reached into her back pocket.  Starsky stepped forward from beside him to examine both IDs.

     He didn't nod, merely glanced at Hutch before giving the leather folders back, and Hutch reluctantly lowered his – well, the guard's – weapon.  Female detective partners?  There were only a handful of female detectives in the LAPD that he knew of, mostly in Vice and Juvie, but he'd never heard of two being partnered.  Maybe Sacramento was more progressive than LA.  Or maybe these two women were that good.  There was something about the redhead – Crea? – that put him off as she continued to glower at him from the ground, but Tanner looked both competent and smart.  Not to mention easy on the eyes.

     A very subtle clearing of his partner's throat told him he was staring, and Hutch started, hoping he hadn't flushed at the realization.  Starsky, meanwhile, was already carrying on, uncharacteristically all business.

     "You ladies realize you're a little out of your jurisdiction here?"

     Tanner had holstered her weapon, although like a good cop, she was keeping half an eye on her partner and the downed prisoner.  Hutch glanced around, assessing the scene and watching for an ambulance as he listened for her response, glad to see the officer who'd been shot was now sitting up, another uniform pressing something white against his leg.

     "Sorry, Officers, didn't mean to butt in on your territory, but these fellas are from our town and we tracked them here.  Looks like we got here just in time, too."

     Then again, Starsky never liked it when someone stepped on his toes, either, let alone rubbed his face in it after.  And the fact it was a woman, good-looking or not, didn't help.  Hutch watched without surprise as his partner's expression soured.  "If you knew they were comin' here for Barr, why didn't you let us know?  We coulda been ready and gotten them all."

     Crea suddenly stood, forcing Starsky back a step.  "We didn't know 'til they were almost here.  You shoulda expected a break and been ready for them.  _Officer_."

     Hutch could almost see his Starsky’s temper rise and quickly moved in, torn between amusement and annoyance.  "It's Detective.  Starsky–"  He pointed at his partner.  "– and Hutchinson.  And we were expecting something, just didn't know when or how.  If you have further information on this case, ladies, perhaps we should pool our resources."

     "Detective," Crea corrected icily, her dark stare unrelenting for a hard moment.  Then she waved a hand at the man on the ground, who'd finally passed out.  "We want to talk to him when he wakes up."

     Starsky muttered something under his breath and moved forward, brushing past Crea without apology as he knelt by the gang member and began administering first aid.  His partner's disgruntlement smoothed some of Hutch's ruffled feathers and he found himself smiling.  "I think we can arrange that.  First I think we should head down to the station and get some jurisdictional issues sorted out, though, don't you?"

The paramedics finally arrived and took over for Starsky.  He stood, absently wiping blood off his hands as he frowned at Madeline Crea.  She frowned right back at him.  Hutch stared for a moment at his partner's bloody hands, stomach suddenly queasy, before tearing himself away to look at the women detectives again.

     Tanner was nodding.  "I can do that."  She turned to her partner.  "Maddie, you wanna come with, or get us checked in at that motel?"

     "I want to talk to our prisoner," Crea answered stubbornly.

     "You don't mind if they save his life first," Starsky asked, openly sarcastic.

     "Now that you mention it–"

     "Maddie," came her partner's stern warning, just as Hutch touched Starsky's arm.  The reining in of respective partners wasn't lost on anyone, and Hutch found himself liking this dark-haired female detective from Sacramento, even as she shrugged helplessly at Starsky's disgruntled glance.  It looked like they'd have to work with the women, so why fight it?  In a better frame of mind and if Crea hadn't rubbed him the wrong way from the start, it would have been Starsky making the overtures and probably flirting shamelessly.

     "I'll go to the motel," Maddie muttered, then pinned her gaze on Starsky again.  "You want to do me a favor and drop me off, Detective?"

     The sweetness imbued in that last word was meant to annoy more than to soften and it succeeded, but Starsky knew when he was beaten.  He'd no doubt gathered, as Hutch had, that the convertible was Kate's and not for Maddie to drive.  Seeing as he felt very similarly about his own candy apple-red monstrosity, Hutch didn't see how he could back out of that one.

     With a resigned motion, he waved her toward the Torino parked in front of the courthouse.  "Just gotta pick up my gun first," he said, and headed off without waiting for an answer.  Maddie immediately headed for the Torino with aggressive strides, giving the car a long, doubtful look before propping herself against the passenger-side door in wary watchfulness.

     Hutch could just imagine his partner's response when he got back and found Crea leaning against his beloved car, and swallowed a smile at the thought.  Some part of him pitied his partner for being stuck with the obviously prickly half of the detective team, but it was a far smaller part than the one that appreciated getting the better part of the deal . . . and seeing his partner suffer a bit.

     He turned back to Tanner, whose mouth was also drawn into a half-smile as she watched Starsky stomp away and her partner's aggressive behavior.  She looked up at Hutch as he turned, and he noted for the first time her lovely green eyes.

     "I guess that means you're stuck with me, Detective Tanner."

     Her smile filled out completely.  "It's Kate, please, and it would be my pleasure, Detective Hutchinson."  She gestured to the convertible.  "Shall we?"

     "It's Hutch."  He followed her, nearly to the vehicle before realizing he still clutched the unfamiliar gun he'd gotten from the guard.  "Oh, uh, just a minute."  He jogged back toward the courthouse, pausing next to the knot of court guards near where their compatriot was being treated and handing the pistol to one of them.  Then back to the building's front door, where he met Starsky coming out, settling his Smith & Wesson into his holster.  At his grin, Starsky only scowled.

     "I bet you think this is funny," he accused.

     "Who, me?  Didn't you always say you loved redheads, Starsk?"  He'd had a lot of practice at the all-innocent routine.

     "Not when they're armed and have a chip on their shoulder the size of my Aunt Rosie.  I'm tellin' you, Hutch, she's a man-eater."

     "You only have to take her to her motel," Hutch soothed.  "I'll see you after at the station and maybe we can get something useful out of her partner.  Kate seems a lot friendlier."

     He got a pointed look for the use of her first name, but he was equally skilled at ignoring Starsky when he wanted to.  Starsky finally relented, gruffly.  "Yeah, well, you just watch yourself.  I don't trust either of 'em."  He pulled Hutch's Colt out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to his partner.  Hutch glowered at him as he briefly juggled the weapon before getting a grip on it.

He glanced back at the Torino as he absently tucked his gun away, and his humor returned as he saw that somehow Maddie had gotten inside and was sitting with her arms crossed, impatiently waiting.  Well aware Starsky didn't keep his baby unlocked, he turned back to his partner with a grin.  "I think I should be telling you that."

     Starsky followed his gaze, eyes rounding, then narrowing.  Without another word to Hutch, he took off for the car, already steaming.

     Hutch shook his head, wondering which of them he should feel sorry for, and returned to the waiting Kate.

     "So, how long have you two been partners?"  Kate Tanner gave her passenger a sideways glance as she drove, tendrils of brown hair blowing in the wind.

     "Uh . . . five years."  He gave her a quick grin.  "But we've known each other since the Academy."

     "Really?"  She cocked her head, looking interested.  "Maddie and I met in Vice.  Didn't take us long to figure out both of us were more interested in Major Crimes.  Took us a while, but we made it – we were pretty determined."

     Hutch had no doubt of that.  "How long ago was that?"

     "Close to three years.  We've been in Major Crimes for almost two.  They tried to split us up, but no dice.  We're stuck with each other."

     Hutch snorted.  "I know what you mean."

     She gave him another sidelong glance.  "Yeah, I guess you do."

     The ride wasn't a long one to Parker, especially in the smooth-riding convertible.  It wasn't exactly an undercover car, either, but it was dark blue and hummed softly and was a whole lot more appealing than the cherry bomb Starsky insisted on driving.  Hutch momentarily toyed with the idea of offering to switch partners, discarding it with an internal grin.  Nah, Starsky and Maddie probably would kill each other inside a week.

They were soon pulling into the garage.  Hutch hitched a thumb to his right.  "Hospital's over there.  Your guy should be arriving soon."

     Kate turned, interest and something darker momentarily filling her expression.  "I want to see him."  And she would have headed that way already if not for Hutch holding up an arm to catch her.

     "Whoa.  Maddie had pretty good aim – he'll probably be in surgery for a while.  Why don't we go see how he's doing after we've talked to my captain and Starsky gets back, and we've gotten some things straight?"

     Her green eyes were deep but indecipherable as they stared at him a moment longer, then she shrugged.  "Guess he's not going anywhere."  Another suddenly carefree grin.  "So where's this captain of yours?  He yell as much as ours does?"

     Hutch swept a hand out in invitation, then followed her, trying to resist the urge to put a hand on the small of her back.  She might have been a fellow cop, but that didn't mean he wasn't a gentleman.  He smiled widely at her question and as they began to walk, murmured, "You have no idea. . ."

     Dobey was as charmed as he, which wasn't a surprise to Hutch.  The captain was a happily married man, but also a sucker for a lovely lady.  It didn't take long for Kate to wrangle a promise of full cooperation, access to the injured prisoner, and Starsky and Hutch's assistance for the duration of their stay in LA.  Hutch, on his part, wasn't arguing, not even when she repeated her insistence on seeing the man her partner had brought down, now identified as one Scott Perlman, reported member of Ernest Barr's hold-up gang.  Starsky hadn't come back yet, so they had some time to kill before starting to compare notes, and Hutch offered to walk her over to the county jail hospital.

     He almost ran into Terry in the hallway as he led Kate out of Dobey's office.

     "Hey, what're you doing here?" Hutch asked with genuine pleasure.  Starsky's latest girlfriend had put all the previous ones to shame, to the point that Hutch was starting to think she was the One.  It hadn't hurt she'd taken pains to get to know him, too, and that he liked her and the three of them were comfortable spending time together.

     "Hutch."  She dimpled.  "I was just in the area and thought I'd stop by to see if Dave was free for lunch.  Is he here?"

     Most people assumed where one of them was, the other was also, and they were usually right.  Hutch gave her an apologetic shrug.  "Not yet, but I'm expecting him any minute.  He just had to stop to drop another detective off first.  I bet you'll catch him if you wait downstairs."

     "Thanks."  She cast a glance at Kate, threw Hutch a knowing, approving look, and headed toward the staircase at the end of the hall.

     Hutch cleared his throat and motioned Kate in the same direction.

     The staircase opened into the lobby of Parker, and Hutch and Kate reached the front desk as Terry went out the door and turned left, toward the parking garage Starsky usually used.  Kate had to stop at the front desk to return her visitor's badge just as Terry had been doing when they reached the lobby, and it was a half-minute more before they reached the front door.

     Terry rushed past, near tears, heading in the opposite direction this time.  Hutch frowned, shoving the door open and taking a step to follow her.  "Terry, what's–?"

     She held up a hand without looking back, a clear indication she wanted to be left alone, and hurried on, soon disappearing around the corner of Parker.

     Bewildered, Hutch turned back toward the garage and, momentarily ignoring Kate, sprinted to the entranceway, rubbing his stiff leg as he did.

     And saw Starsky standing next to the Torino, struggling to shrug off a Maddie who was intently kissing him, their lips glued together even as he tried to push her away.

     Things had certainly changed fast, and knowing his partner as he did, Hutch had an idea Maddie had done the changing.  It would have been funny if not for the memory of Terry's expression a moment ago.  Hutch unapologetically cleared his throat, seeing Starsky flinch and finally heave away from Maddie, while Maddie let him go to stare without shame at Hutch.  It seemed she had no reservations about doing whatever she felt like, whether shooting a man or kissing him, and with the same lack of emotion.  Unease momentarily stirred in Hutch's gut, an instinct telling him something that couldn't be right, but he shrugged it off, making himself smile.

     "I can see why you took so long.  Kate and I were about to go see the injured prisoner.  You want to come?"

     Now fully clear of the woman he'd been kissing – or rather, who'd been kissing him – Starsky shot Hutch a disgusted look and an even colder one at Maddie before he moved away, walking fast toward Hutch and the direction Terry had gone.  "I gotta take care of something first," he said stiffly, passing a startled Kate as he left the garage.

     Which left Hutch alone with the women.  Great.  Kate's presence was a pleasure, but he could have done without Maddie, and not just because three was a crowd.  There was something unsettling about the redheaded woman detective, Hutch couldn't help but feel, even as Kate crossed over to her and they began to talk in quiet, calm tones.  Maddie instantly softened, her toughness seeming to slough off as she smiled at Kate.  The ease of a good partnership: Hutch could recognize it even across the parking garage.

Well, who knew better than he what odd couples partnerships could be?  The two women clearly had a good relationship, Kate seeing something in her partner that Hutch didn't, and Maddie had to be a good cop to have gotten where she was.  Hutch just had to try to see that side of her, too.  Starsky certainly wasn't about to at that point, and Hutch couldn't much blame him.  Terry would forgive him; she wasn't the jealous type.  But if Maddie couldn't take no for an answer and truly made Starsky uncomfortable, the joke was over and Hutch would take the lead and do what he could to keep them apart.

     Well, at least he still had Kate's company.  You didn't mess with a partnership, he knew that, and Maddie came with hers, but Kate was the silver lining.  He could live with that.

     They finally ended their discussion and turned to him as one.  Hutch straightened and offered his best smile.

     "Detectives, shall we go?"

     The first sign of trouble was the monitor alarm that began to ring at the nurses' station as Hutch passed it.  He nearly spilled the two cups of coffee he held, fresh from the machine down the hall.

     "Something–?"

     It was all he got out before the nurse ran away, down the hall.  Toward Scott Perlman's room, where Hutch had just left the two women detectives at their request a minute before.  Hutch set the styrofoam cups on the station counter and followed the nurse.

     A doctor and another nurse converged on the room the same moment he reached it, and it took several seconds before Hutch could see past them.  

The doctor was bent over the patient in the bed, the nurse from the station fiddling with some of the machinery nearby.  And the other nurse had two unrepentant detectives cornered by the wall.

     "– do anything, he just started gasping all of a sudden," Kate was saying, her eyes wide with shocked innocence.  They caught Hutch's entrance and flicked over to him.

And the realization hit him with startling clarity.  She was lying.

Confused, Hutch's gaze returned to the bed, where the doctor was looking darkly under the blood-stained bandages he'd just lifted.  "We'll have to stitch him again," he murmured to the nurse across the bed.  Perlman lay rigidly on the bed, pale and sweating, his hands clutching at the sheets and his gaze darting to the Sacramento detectives and away again, over and over.  Terrified.

It was adding up to something Hutch didn't like.  Guarded now, he looked back at Kate and Maddie, this time catching Maddie's eyes as Kate continued to talk to the nurse.  The flat gaze was back, reminding him of something he couldn't quite place, something that sent a shiver along the back of his neck in warning.  They stared at each other a long moment before Maddie broke away to focus again on her partner's conversation with the nurse.  It wasn't because she was intimidated.  She'd simply made her point.

Were these the women he'd been so charmed by before?  Kate suddenly didn't seem quite so attractive anymore.

By the time they were finished at the hospital and Hutch dropped them off at their motel nearly an hour later, his questions during the too-long car trip evaded or half-answered, he was surprised to actually find himself relieved.

Starsky was waiting for him in Dobey's office when he got back to Parker.

"Took you long enough," his partner observed blandly as Hutch walked in.  Starsky was sprawled in a chair, one leg hooked over its arm, making himself at home as usual.  Looking relaxed to all the world, but to Hutch's expert eyes, he was wary and tense.

"How's Terry?" he returned just as casually for the sake of his boss.

A wince he felt more than saw.  "I didn't catch her.  She'll be okay."  Which didn't really sound okay, but Hutch figured that would come.

But he was still being watched.  Starsky's eyes saw more, too, and stared right through him.

"How 'bout you?"

Hutch smiled brightly.  "Oh, just fine.  Took the girls to see Perlman and the guy got so worked up, he busted his stitches."

"Really?" Starsky asked politely.

"Yup.  Can't imagine what got him so upset."

"Don't have a clue.  Were you there?"

Hutch dropped into the chair beside him.  "Nope, I was getting coffee."

     "Figures," Starsky mumbled.

     "What was that?" Hutch shifted closer, still all earnest cheerfulness.

     "Uh, I just said, that's quite a coincidence."

     "Isn't it, though?  If I didn't know better. . ."

     "Yeah."

     Dobey had been watching them through narrowed eyes and finally spoke up.  "I don't know what's going on with you two, but if there's something I should know about our visitors, you'd better spit it out."

     Hutch swung around to face him.  "Like what, Cap'n?" he asked guilelessly.  He knew without looking Starsky was mirroring his expression.  Yeah, they had their suspicions, even concerns, but that was still between the two of them.  You didn't damn a person, especially a fellow cop, based on feelings, and until he and Starsky had something concrete, the two visiting detectives would be accorded every respect and cooperation.  But that was all.  Any personal interest he had in Kate Tanner had cooled over the last hour.

     "You still think they can help us pick up the rest of the hold-up gang?" Dobey asked them.

     Starsky stirred and answered that one.  "They've got a lot more on the gang than we do, Cap'n, including the name of the leader: Christopher Langley.  They know a lot about him, too, like that Langley doesn't like any of his men being captured 'cause he's afraid they're gonna turn him in.  He'd rather kill 'em first."

     "Which makes Perlman a target," Dobey said.

     Most of his partner's information was news to Hutch, probably gleaned from Maddie and the visiting detectives' files while Hutch had been busy playing escort, but he quickly picked up the ball.  "It does, but we still need to figure out when Langley's planning to make his move, or we'll get rolled over just as bad as last time."

     "You're right, we can't afford to keep a heavy guard on Perlman all the time."  Dobey looked at Starsky again.  "So you think our visitors can help you figure out when this . . . Langley's going to strike?"

     Hutch traded a glance with his partner, saw the answer there.  "Or help us find him before he can make a move."

     Dobey nodded.  "Get on it.  I haven't been able to reach the Major Crimes captain in Sacramento yet, but I'll get permission for us to borrow these two for a while.  You just keep an eye on our guests," he leveled a finger at them both.  "Last thing we need is for some visiting female officers to get hurt while they're in our jurisdiction."

     Hutch ghosted a smile even as Starsky leaned forward "Cap'n, with these two, Langley'll be lucky if he and his gang gets through this in one piece."

     Dobey just raised a skeptical eyebrow before returning to the paperwork on his desk.

     It was nearly the end of their shift and Hutch's stomach was reminding him he'd skipped lunch.  He caught his partner's eye and nodded to the door.  Starsky stood, unobtrusively stretching kinks garnered from the way he'd been sitting and his stiffness, then followed Hutch out into the soft sounds of the busy squadroom.

     "What happened with Maddie?"  Hutch turned and asked the question he'd been itching to since he'd caught sight of his lip-locked partner in the garage.

     Starsky grimaced, chagrined and embarrassed at once.  "She kissed me, no warning, no nothing."

     "Poor guy," Hutch shook his head in mock sympathy.

     Starsky shrugged, not quite looking at him.  "Yeah, okay, so I wasn't exactly unwilling at first.  But I was by the time Terry got there, but Maddie kept goin'.  I'm telling you, Hutch, there's this . . . hunger in her that. . ."  He trailed off, seeming at a loss for words.

     Hutch snorted as he collected his coffee cup.  "Isn't that what you said you liked about that blonde from Georgia, what was her name?"

     "Dinah.  Yeah, but that was different.  Maddie – somethin' about her scares me, like she's just pretending to be on our side."

     Hutch frowned.  "You don't think she's a cop?"

     "No, she’s a cop, but I think she'd be a killer if she weren't a cop," Starsky said very, very seriously.

     Hutch froze, staring at him.  It wasn't reassuring to know he wasn't the only one feeling uneasy.  "It wouldn't be the first time someone rode that edge and ended up in blue just to keep from being on the other side.  They usually make pretty good cops, too."  Starsky included, as they both knew.

     Frustration flickered in his partner's eyes.  "That's why I didn't want to say anything to Dobey.  Right now it's just a feeling.  But I don't trust her.  She didn't care Terry saw us or that I was mad, and I bet she wouldn't've cared if Perlman died 'cause they wanted some information."

     Hutch gave him a humorless smile.  "You don't think he broke his stitches all by himself, either, huh?"  He fell silent.  What Maddie had done in the garage would have been considered sexual assault if the tables had been turned.  That kind of lack of control was dangerous in a police officer, but the look in her eyes then, and at the courthouse and later in the hospital room, had been almost the opposite, an emptiness that bothered him far more than her aggressive bristliness.  It nagged at him, familiar and foreboding.  He didn't trust Maddie Crea, and was less and less certain of her partner.

     A nudge from his own partner brought him back to the fond look on Starsky's face.  "We're off and I'm starvin'.  Didn't you say something about Tex-Mex?"

     "A few hours ago," Hutch retorted, but he felt the gentle tug of their friendship pull things back into perspective, righting him and dulling the edges of concern.  There were few things that seemed unsolvable or insurmountable over shared beers and dinner at Starsky's, two visiting female detectives certainly included.  "Fine," he gave in easily, helping Starsky gather up files to take with them for after-dinner study.  "But if you get to pick dinner, I choose dessert."

     "You picked the place, remember?  And fruit doesn't count as dessert."  Starsky was pulling on his jacket but reached over to catch a file before it slid out of Hutch's hands.

     "You know, Starsky, in France, they eat cheese and fruit for dessert.  They say it cleans the palate after the meal."

     "Yeah, well, you go clean your plate in France then.  Here in the US, if it ain't fattening, it ain't dessert."  Somehow Starsky had ended up with only the one file while Hutch carried a tottering handful.

     Hutch shook his head mournfully.  "You're uncivilized, Starsky, you know that?"  He dumped most of the files into his partner's arms without warning, leaving him with only one slim one.

     "Pack mules usually are," Starsky grumbled as he passed Hutch, hurrying to get to the car and dump his load.

     Hutch followed, grinning.

     The ringing of a telephone had to be one of the most vile sounds on earth, especially in the middle of the night.  Okay, Hutch squinted at the clock beside his bed, not exactly the middle of the night at 6:39 a.m., but it felt like it after a late night of going over case files with Starsky.  They'd ended up at his apartment, after all, and by the time they'd gone through all the paperwork from Sacramento, it was past midnight and Starsky had crashed on the couch.  Hutch could hear his snores from the adjacent room in between the ringing of the phone, which of course his partner was oblivious to.  Figured.

     He fumbled the receiver, the shiver of déjà vu passing through him as it always did when the phone woke him, of a time when Starsky's weak and fading voice had pleaded for help in the middle of the night before falling silent.  Hutch was suddenly grateful for that obnoxious snore from the living room.

     "H'lo?" he ventured into the receiver, dropping his head back to the pillow and working his mouth to get rid of the fuzzy dryness.

     "Hutch?  This is Kate.  We have some information about where Langley and his boys are holed up and were just on our way to check it out.  You interested in coming?"

     Hutch came fully awake.  Interested in coming?  As if the two women could have gone by themselves.  "What do you mean?  You're out of jurisdiction, remember?  You can't go without us.  We'll pick you up at the motel in–"  Another squint at the phone.  "Half an hour."

     "Well, hurry up or we are going without you."

     He opened his mouth to reply hotly to that, realized it would be pointless.  If they didn't care for jurisdictional issues or back-up, no lecture from him would change that.  "We will," he simply said, voice terse, and hung up without waiting for an answer.  Dobey should never have let the women stay armed, courtesy or no.  This was becoming a mess, and even worse, an issue of faith in a fellow officer.  And an issue like that could get you killed.

     Hutch rolled out of bed, reaching for a pair of discarded jeans as he did.  He pulled them on and buttoned one-handed while throwing a pillow out into the living room, over the top of the couch.  The snoring stopped with a startled snort and a moment later an unruly mess of dark hair poked into sight.

     "What was that for?"  The New York accent was even stronger in sleepiness, and baleful.

     "Get dressed.  The girls have a lead."

     That was all it took.  They had the morning preparations down to the dance of a long-married couple: Hutch showering while Starsky dug up clothes and some peanut butter for breakfast, then Starsky showering while Hutch shaved and made his morning shake.  Fifteen minutes later they were in the Torino and on their way downtown while Hutch filled his partner in on the little he'd gleaned from Kate.

     Starsky just shook his head.  He was even less comfortable with the women than Hutch, but they both wanted Barr and the gang and so did the Sacramento detectives.  A little cooperation would be worth the result if the visitors' information was good.

     They pulled up at the motel two minutes short of the half-hour deadline, to the sight of Kate and Maddie sitting in the convertible, engine running.  No doubt he and Starsky would have been left behind had they been seconds late, and Hutch caught the flash of disappointment on Maddie's face at their arrival, but Dobey could handle the jurisdiction and cooperation issues later.  Hutch had a feeling the Sacramento captain would be getting an earful before the day was out.

     Hutch smoothed his expression as he got out of the car, Starsky mirroring his actions.  But he stayed by the open door of the Torino, and Hutch nodded to him, crossing to the convertible in long strides.

     "Get in," Kate said tersely.

     He let his eyebrow creep up a fraction.  "Give us the location first so we can call for back-up."

     "We'll be fine."  Tanner's lips had thinned with displeasure.

     And Hutch's patience, worn by the events of the day before, finally ran out.  He waved a finger sternly in her face.  "Look, I don't know how you do things in Sacramento, but here we take back-up when we're facing a heavily armed, ruthless, possibly barricaded gang of murderers.  So we can do this one of two ways.  Either you give us the location so Starsky there can call for back-up, or we'll file a complaint with your department for obstruction of justice and illegal transport of weapons and anything else Starsky and I can think of."  He leaned closer.  "And believe me, we're very creative."

     She glowered at him; he returned the look unflinchingly, a silent battle being waged.  And won as she made a face.  "Fine.  It's an old apartment building.  Vernon Street, near Arlington."

     "Number?"

     "2112."

     His lips bent up in a perfunctory smile.  "Thank you."  He turned back to Starsky.  "Apartment building, Vernon near Arlington."  Starsky nodded and ducked back into the car.

     "But we're driving," Kate added, drawing Hutch's attention back to her.

     "Do you know where Vernon is from here?"

     "We looked it up."  She smiled at him.  "And we'll have two natives to show us the way if we get lost, right?"

     He sighed.  "Kate–"

     "There's no way we're going in that rolling cherry of your partner's.  Whoever okayed that as an undercover car had to be nuts."

     That drew an involuntary smile from him, a real one.  He couldn't argue with that, and as he saw Kate also reluctantly grin, Hutch was reminded again why he'd liked the woman to start with.  Shaking his head in surrender, he stood and motioned Starsky over as his partner finished on the radio and slammed the Torino's door.  Starsky didn't argue, taking Hutch's lead and climbing over the edge of the car to sit in the convertible's back seat.  The car was moving before either of them had managed to get a seatbelt on, Kate driving with the certainty of someone who knew the city.  Starsky's eyebrow rose, but Hutch just answered with a shrug.

     "So where'd this lead come from?" Starsky finally asked, speaking up to be heard over the wind.

     "Perlman, the guy we talked to yesterday.  Took 'til this morning to figure out exactly where he was talking about.  Slippery weasel," Kate answered over her shoulder.

     Hutch exchanged another glance with his partner.  The women had had something since the day before and they hadn't shared it?  Not to mention how they'd gotten the suspect to talk in the first place.  The whole thing was tasting worse and worse to Hutch.

     "I'm surprised he told you anything," Starsky ventured almost casually.

     No response.  Hutch had expected as much.  But it was time to lay down the law before things got completely out of hand.

"When we get there, you two are staying with the car, understood?  You're out of jurisdiction here."

     Maddie half-turned, face flaming, but stopped when Kate put a hand up.  "This is our case, Detective.  We've been working it a lot longer than you."

     "In Sacramento."  Starsky took that one.  "You're in our backyard now.  If that's a problem, you can drop us off right here and go back home, or we'll have ya in jail so fast it'll make you dizzy."

     "Jail?" Maddie unexpectedly broke in, voice nearly cracking in what almost seemed like horror.  "Katie–"

     "No one's going to jail, Maddie," her partner soothed, giving Starsky a murderous look in the rear view mirror.  Hutch's eyes narrowed.  "All right, long as we get the collar.  We've worked a long time for this one, Detective."

     That was a faster capitulation than he'd expected, although Maddie's reaction had surprised Hutch, and the look Kate had given Starsky would have set off alarms if she hadn't been a cop.  But, fine.  If some angry and hurt feelings were what it took to get the job done right, Hutch was starting not to care if he never saw Tanner and Crea ever again.

     A black-and-white was waiting for them on Vernon, another pulling up behind them as they parked along a trash-cluttered curb.  The four of them climbed out to join the officers who'd also gotten out of their cars.  One uniform handed Hutch a slip of paper, that all-important warrant, and he looked at Kate Tanner as he took it.  Her gaze sweeping the street, and she finally pointed at a three-story brick building a half-block down.

"That's the one.  Sounded like they were the only ones in the place."

     Hutch nodded, beckoning to the growing knot of uniformed officers, who immediately began fanning out, heading for the different entrances of the building.  Then his attention went back to Tanner.

     "You'll wait here."

     It was only half a question, half a reminder of her promise.  She didn't like it, but she slouched against the car, raising one hand.  "We promise."  Maddie, gaze darting silently between her partner and Hutch and Starsky, didn't say a word.

     Hutch turned to his own partner and raised an eyebrow.  _Might be better if you stayed with them._

Starsky grimaced. _I don't like you going in alone._

     A nod toward the officers still waiting on Hutch.  _I'm not.  I'll be okay.  You keep them safe and out of trouble._

     Duty won the argument, as he knew it would.  Maybe Starsky didn't like their guests, but they were still fellow cops who didn't know the area or their procedures, not to mention women, and he and Starsky were both gentlemen, fellow cops or no.  Starsky knew one of them should stay behind.  He gave a small nod.

     The silent discussion had taken only a second, probably unremarked by anyone else, but then that was how partnerships worked, too, under the surface, as present and important as the heart that circulated blood and the lungs that drew in air, and just as invisible from the outside.  Hutch turned silently away, knowing without a glance behind that Starsky would be standing hipshot on the sidewalk, deceptively casual as he watched Hutch go, keeping an eye on his back as long as he could.

     The routine was a familiar and coordinated one.  Breaking in the front door at the same time as the officers around the back stormed that entrance.  Shouts of "Police!" orders to lay down weapons and raise hands, and the chaos of sorting out the bad guys from the cops reigned for several minutes.  But Kate's information had been good, several of the faces passing by Hutch familiar from hours of staring at their files: Jackson Huducker, John Daniel Westley, Dale Napoli, Edwin Starke.  He ticked them off, looking for the two faces he wanted to see the most: Barr and Langley.  But they weren't there, and as the last officers regrouped from their sweep of the upstairs and basement floors and motioned all was clear, Hutch stared at the group of arrestees with the sinking realization the biggest fish had slipped through the nets again, along with a few of the guppies.  And they wouldn't be taking the capture of the better part of their gang, and their hideout, very well.  That meant trouble.

     From outside, almost tinny with distance, came the sound of a single shot.  

Hutch's blood iced over and dropped into his feet.  Starsky.  He bolted for the front door of the building, cursing his bad leg as it stiffened up on him again but clearing yards with each awkward hop, footsteps behind him as a few officers followed his sudden dash.  The battered door slammed into the side of the building with the force of his shove, and then he was racing up the front sidewalk, his stride growing more fluid with each step, his heart more frantic.

     The convertible was gone, and an automatic glance up and down the street found it a disappearing black splotch a few blocks away.  Kidnapped, or worse?  He ordered a clipped, "Stop them, no matter what," at the nearest uniform behind them, never slowing as he closed the distance between the building and where the convertible had stood.

     Where a body came into sight now, crumpled on the sidewalk, wearing a blue windbreaker and jeans.

     There was still a set of footsteps behind him, and Hutch's command directed toward it came out more choked than a moment before.  "Call an ambulance."

     The last few feet he stopped thinking, only seeing the way Starsky was bent, his clumsy jerks as he tried to reach something beside him and for a moment Hutch thought he was merely stunned, trying to get up again.  Then he saw the blood, seeping through the shirt and dyeing the trash on the ground under Starsky.

     The injured man's movement should have reassured him, but as he knelt beside his partner, seeing the blank, glassy look, the confused shock, all Hutch felt was awful fear.

     "Starsk?"

     No recognition of his presence; Starsky kept clawing at the trash, and Hutch unwillingly followed his reach to the Smith & Wesson that lay a few feet away.  He picked up the gun, and Starsky's hand.  It was cold and spasmed even as he held it.

     "Starsk?" he repeated gently.  He put Starsky's gun down behind him and rested his hand on an icy cheek.  "Starsky?"

     There was no pain in the eyes, or clarity, only bafflement as they passed right by him and kept wandering.  And a bewildered murmur.

     "She shot me.  Mad-Maddie, she . . . she shot me."  His mouth continued moving but the sound dwindled to nothing, like a puppet with no one to speak for it.

     Maddie.  Hutch had no emotion free to be surprised or furious, too wrapped up in the fear that crawled along his skin and down his throat into his guts that this was the last day, the last hour, the last words he would have of his partner's life.

     The thought at least generated some sort of instinctual reaction.  He withdrew his hand from the frigid cheek, jerking out his handkerchief instead.  His eyes refused to understand the damage they were seeing as he pressed the piece of cloth against the tear in Starsky's abdomen and held it there firmly.  God help him – it looked like an exit wound, not an entrance.  She'd shot him in the back.

There was no sign of pain from Starsky still, nothing but a thick grunt at the pressure.  And Hutch's panic managed to deepen.  You didn't feel serious wounds at first, the body's reaction to a massive shock, so Starsky's calm scared the marrow out of Hutch's bones.  Protests, coherent curses, even a moan would have made him feel a lot better than this numbness.

"Starsky, listen to me.  Help's on the way.  Just hang on.  You hear me?  Stay with me."

The dazed eyes finally lingered on him a moment, but they weren't drawing any strength like they had so many times past, strength he knew Starsky needed to beat this, because it was bad.  Hutch would have given all he had if only it would help.

A shudder wracked the injured man, then another, and his eyes finally dropped shut.  Hutch glanced frantically around for an ambulance that wasn't there yet, knowing he was watching his partner die in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

That didn't stop his desperation.

"Starsky!  Hold on to me, buddy.  Please, Starsk.  Just hold on."  He was praying, begging, anything it took.  He'd done the same when Simon Marcus had held the secret of where Starsky had been taken, when Professor Jennings had held the only cure to Starsky's poison in his hands.  There was no way they could have made it through that, then through Hutch's near-fatal accident a few months before, just to lose it all here.  "Please, partner," he whispered.

Starsky's hand, callused and motor oil-stained and less delicate than Hutch's but strong and solid, tightened briefly, another spasm, and then clutched Hutch's as he groaned.  He was starting to feel the gunshot, more and more by the second.  Hutch got a sense of the growing torment as the hand in his grew slick with sweat and clutched at him, trying to escape the fire in his belly.

"Easy, Starsk.  Just hang on to me," he pleaded.  This wasn't any better, watching his best friend die suffering, and oh, God, where was that ambulance?  Tears leaked out from under his eyelids, and an officer bent down to help Hutch restrain the restless injured man as Starsky moaned and arched away from them.

But . . . Starsky still hung on to him, maybe even for him.  The white-clenched grip never loosened while Starsky's other hand jerked open and shut, an instinctual need for comfort and reassurance – and strength – that Hutch could almost feel the drain from.  He held on with both hands as the ambulance finally pulled up and the paramedics went to work, elated to be able to give, heartstoppingly frightened that it wasn't enough.  But at least it gave him a focal point to stay sane, and Hutch held on as hard to that knowledge as to the connection with his partner.

As important as the heart that beat in his chest, just as much a part of him, and just as taken for granted until it was suddenly harmed.

He stayed close as they stabilized his partner and transported him.  And when the artificial rest of drugs slackened Starsky's grip, Hutch stood in the ER entrance, watching them roll away his best friend, the man who knew all his secrets and had shared so much of his memories.  Purpose gone, the vacuum it left was unbearable.

And soon filled with hate.

Hutch had paced in the waiting room as fellow officers expectedly began to trickle in, then, stifled by the bodies and the tense air, he'd found the critical care waiting room and gone there to continue his vigil alone.

The silence was as suffocating as the people had been.

Hutch was sitting on the couch, watching the hands move on the clock.  They seemed slower when you actually took the time to watch them move than when you only glanced up here and there, surprised to see they'd traveled so much since last time.  Time flew when you were having fun, like the outdoors party Starsky had impulsively thrown the week before despite it still being the tail end of winter.  It hadn't mattered to him; he'd been too full of joy at having Hutch back on street duty and the way things were going with his lady to not share it with everyone.  Half of Special Units had come and they'd drank and danced and sang late into the night, oblivious of the passing–

"Hutch?"

His head snapped up at the strong voice that nevertheless wavered.  "Terry."  He'd remembered to call her and Dobey soon after he'd reached the hospital, telling them what little he knew and then promptly forgetting them, until now.  But while her face, usually open and grinning, was tight and pale, her eyes revealed she was feeling much of what Hutch himself was.  He stood at once, with a purpose now.  "Hey, why don't you sit–"

"How is he?"

Her fear seemed to pour out in that moment, only barely banked, and he realized she'd driven over not even knowing if Starsky had died in the meantime.  He softened, tried to look reassuring.  "He's in surgery.  There isn't any news yet, but you know Starsky. . ."

She nodded like she was supposed to, even though she knew as well as he that the lug they both loved was only human, no matter how strong a will he had.  Her eyes suddenly filled as she stood hugging herself.  "I came as soon as I could, but all I could think about was yesterday.  Hutch, he called me last night and tried to explain and apologize, but I wouldn't let him.  What if that's the last thing. . .?"

Oddly enough, seeing her distress eased his, distracting him.  "Shh," he simply whispered, and took her into his arms.  That was another thing that was so right about Terry, the fact he could hold her and tease her and show affection to her and neither she nor Starsky had ever taken it wrong.  "He understood.  He said it'd be okay, just to give it a little time.  He knew you better than that.  And he was sorry, too.  Maddie just kinda took him by surprise.  It didn't mean anything."

She wasn't the weepy type, just sniffed a little into his shirt.  "I know that.  I did.  It just . . . hurt.  But that's so . . . dumb now.  I just want to tell him that."

"I know."  He rocked her slightly as they stood together.  Right now, she was all he had of Starsky.  "I know."  He did.  It was exactly what he felt.  The day before had been just another day of their lives, but now it seemed like the last, and he wasn't sure what he'd do if there wouldn't be a next one.

Besides, like Terry, he had an apology to make.  He'd left his partner to guard the sheep in wolf's clothing.  Hutch had ignored the warning signs, fooled by their gender and job, and they'd been the ones he should've been protecting his partner against.  It still didn't make sense, any of it, but the simple fact was that he'd been suckered and his partner had paid the price.

Hutch suddenly felt exhausted.  Terry was quiet, just drawing comfort from his being there and sharing the worry, but he couldn't seem to do the same.  Still that protective instinct, activated by every woman, good or evil, who crossed his path, but failing him when his partner needed it.  With an internal wince, Hutch levered Terry to the nearby couch and huddled with her to wait for word if he could be forgiven, or damned forever.

He'd forgotten how much dying hurt.

The doctor came as the late-winter sun set in a cold blaze outside the window, and Hutch's lingering hope sank with it at the man's words – damage to the intestines, peritonitis, infection and antibiotics.  The gist of it was that Starsky was seriously ill and there was no guarantee of a tomorrow.  Terry had finally started to cry then until she'd worn herself out and curled next to Hutch in sleep.  Starsky had done that a few times, too, so done in, the dark head slipped down to rest against the nearest part of Hutch's anatomy, and without a request or apology fell deeply asleep as if Hutch had nothing better to do at that moment than to play pillow.

There were few times he had.

His head felt thick and clouded, his throat raw, and his eyes swollen and tired from emotion, but those stray thoughts still made his eyes damp again.  It didn't matter what the memory was right now, happy or horrible, they all hurt.

The stars were coming out outside.  Starsky knew all the constellations, had tried patiently to teach them to his outdoor-loving partner more than once.  No sight, no memory, no part of his life seemed free of Starsky's touch.

Hutch was rubbing his eyes again when there was a soft knock at the door.  Dobey's creased face peered around it, and at the sight of the sleeping Terry, he motioned to Hutch to join him out in the hall.  Hutch just shook his head, waving Dobey in instead.  He was too weary to move, and loath to jar the woman next to him.

Dobey crept in, careful to move softly, and Hutch's mouth twitched.  "Doesn't matter, Cap'n.  She sleeps like a log."  He didn't lower his voice, and she didn't stir.

The captain, to his credit, didn't even lift an eyebrow at that, just sat into the chair next to the couch Hutch and Terry shared.  He looked older at times like this, the full weight of all he'd gone through to become captain becoming visible.  "We were able to catch Crea and Tanner.  They're being held at the station."

Hatred momentarily flared stronger than worry again.  "I want to talk to them," Hutch said flatly.

As Starsky would have, Terry seemed to pick up his shift of mood and made a sound in her sleep.  He moved his hand from her shoulder to her hair and she grew quiet.

Dobey tracked the movement.  "You'll get your chance.  Later.  They're not going anywhere.  We found part of what might be the hold-up money in their car, and Crea's gun is a good match for the one that shot Starsky.  The DA's already working on charges."

"So they were in on it from the start.  Part of Langley's gang?" Hutch ventured.

Dobey shifted.  "The girls aren't talking, but Perlman's awake.  I thought maybe you'd like to have a few words with him first."  He gave Hutch an entirely unnecessary significant look.

Hutch was already easing away from Terry, hushing her when she murmured a protest.  "I'll be right back, sweetheart.  Stay here and keep him company for me, too, huh?"  _Sweetheart_ was Starsky's word, but it fit.  She breathed a half-awake agreement and sighed and went back to sleep.

Two minutes later, they were in Dobey's car, headed for the jail hospital.

Hutch hadn't gotten a good look at Perlman either at the scene or at the hospital, but even if he had, there wasn't much to remember.  The man was as colorless as the bed sheets he laid on, mustache and hair a bleached white-blond, skin pasty with lack of sun, eyes a dull brown.  Even the fear in them at the sight of Hutch didn't shine much.  But like Barr, the guy was just a follower, probably some of the more mindless muscle in the gang.  No wonder Langley had preferred his men dead than bothering to rescue them.  There hadn't been an attempt yet on Perlman – more was the pity, in Hutch's opinion – but then, Langley had had a lot to occupy him of late.

Hutch began without preamble, right by the head of Perlman's bed so the man had to crane his head up to see the detective.  "A police officer's in the hospital now because of two of your gang.  You've got two choices, my friend.  You can either cut a deal with us and answer our questions, or you can hang for being an attempted copkiller, not to mention those men your gang killed on the armored car job.  Since you're the only one we've got, I guess you'll have to take all the blame.  What'll it be?"

Perlman gulped audibly.  "Listen, you don't know what Langley'll–"

Hutch straightened.  "Guess you want to hang."  He started to walk away.

"Now, that's not what I said!"  The man's voice rose in sheer panic.

Hutch paused, facing away from him.

"What do you wanna know?"

He turned back as if he'd never expected anything else.  "Tell me about Maddie Crea."

The brown eyes shriveled.  "What do you wanna know about her?"

"Is she one of Langley's people?"

He hid his surprise when Perlman unexpectedly snorted, amused.  "Maddie?  Maddie isn't anybody's.  She plays by her own rules."

"But she was there at the armored car job?"

"Who do you think killed the driver?" Perlman shot back without hesitation.  He wasn't lying; a rookie cop would've been able to tell.  Hutch had been expecting the answer but it still sent a shiver down his back.  His voice fell a few degrees.

"How about Kate Tanner?"

Perlman sighed, his head dropping back to the bed.  "Katie, she's another story.  She and Maddie were partners – cops."  The thought seemed to amuse him, until he caught Hutch's expression.  He hurried on.  "Then she found out Maddie was walkin' on both sides of the law, more and more on the other side, if you follow.  But she and Maddie were close, so she covered for her.  Then Kate got involved with Chris–"

Hutch's eyebrows jumped – that was unexpected.  "Kate and Chris were lovers?"

"Yeah.  Don't think she knew what she was gettin' into.  'Fore we knew it, he was beating on her and had 'em both under his thumb."

"Was she part of the heist?" Hutch asked stiffly.

"Naw.  She never went that far, not the type.  She just covered for Maddie, and Chris sometimes, at least until the bank car job.  When she found out people got killed, she told Chris she'd bring him down if it was the last thing she did.  We left for LA the next day."

Hutch looked up at Dobey, standing soberly by the door, trading mute agreement they had gotten what they came for.  Hutch stepped distractedly away from the bed again.

"Hey, you said you were going to work me a deal, right?"

"Sure," Hutch tossed over his shoulder.  "Only one count of murder one instead of three."  He crossed to the door without a glance back.

It was only once the door closed behind him that he hesitated, looking up to meet his boss's eyes.  "They were setting us up all along, using us to find Langley and his gang.  And we fell for it like first-day rookies."  He slapped one hand against the brick wall, glad for the sharp sting of pain.  A small price it was.

Dobey's eyebrows were raised.  "I finally reached their captain in the SPD.  Seems Crea and Tanner have been on suspension since last week, pending investigation of involvement in illegal activities by IA.  He didn't even know they had left town."

"Perfect.  Well, we just made their IA's case for them, didn't we?"

Dobey harrumphed.  "Departmental policy is to give a fellow officer benefit of the doubt and welcome them unconditionally, not just after we've checked them out, you know that.  That's helped you and Starsky on a few investigations, too, in case you've forgotten.  There's no way you could have known–"

"Starsky knew," Hutch cut in bitterly.  The mention of his partner just made worse the hurt of ripping himself away from the hospital.  If Starsky was dying, Hutch was supposed to be there, at his side one last time, and if he was getting better, Hutch needed to be there when he woke.  Yet another reason to damn the two women.  "He didn't trust them from the start.  I gave him a hard time about it.  I just thought he didn't like a woman turning the tables on him.  Well, they did, didn't they."

The captain patiently folded his arms.  "I don't seem to recall either you or Starsky being able to see the future.  This call was just as much mine as yours, Hutchinson."

The debate was pointless; Dobey had been off the streets too long to remember as sharply the duty to realize your partner was in danger and to protect him from it, even if it meant knowing ahead of time.  He hadn't seen Starsky's face in the parking garage, or before Hutch had left him to "look after" their guests, the guests Hutch had not seen as potential threats because he'd thought them unthreatening, and Kate attractive.  Hutch couldn't even remember anymore what he'd seen in her.  After the dirty cops they'd dealt with over the years, the women murderers and thieves, it had been a stupid, unforgivable blind spot.

Hutch shook his head hopelessly, then buried the despair, knowing the one person who would have seen through it was across town, fighting for his life.  The sooner he could wrap this up, the sooner he could get back to him.

"Okay.  So Maddie got involved with Langley's gang and Kate got involved with Langley.  The gang holds up the armored car, Maddie shoots the driver, and Kate finally gets a conscience.  She doesn't turn in Maddie because they're partners."  It was the one thing he couldn't quite damn her for completely.  Could he say he would have done any different in her shoes?  "But she's had enough and she goes after Langley.  Who takes off for LA, where one of his men is about to get sentenced.  Kate and Maddie follow him and use us to help find the gang."  He frowned.  "But why shoot Starsky?  Why not just help put Langley behind bars?"  What had happened in those few minutes he'd been inside the house and Starsky had been with the women?

"And have Langley give up Maddie?" Dobey asked meaningfully.

True.  He wasn't thinking clearly, distracted by the sharp pulls of love for one person, hate for another.  "Okay, so the three of them are waiting outside and they see Langley come out.  Maybe he says something to them, maybe they just realize they can't have a witness, and they shoot Starsky.  But then where's Langley?"  However he turned it, it didn't make sense.

"Maybe Langley shot Starsky, and Crea and Tanner took off after him?" Dobey suggested.

Hutch shook his head.  "Starsky said Maddie shot him.  And it still wouldn't have given Langley a head start."  There certainly hadn't been any sign they had tried to help the injured Starsky.  A new light dawned.  "What if it wasn't Langley they were really after?  I can't believe Kate suddenly hated him so much she would chase him four hundred miles just to get the guy.  You'd think she'd be glad he wasn't anywhere near Maddie any more.  What if it was really the money they were after?"

Dobey looked thoughtful.  "They got it from Langley, then let him go and shot Starsky to cover their tracks?"

"Makes sense."

The older man was silent for a moment.  "All right.  That means Langley and the rest of his gang may or may not be gone by now.  I'm going to see about rushing Crea and Tanner's hearing, just in case Langley's still in the area and looking for revenge."

"I'd bet a week's pay he is," Hutch said tiredly.  "Somehow I don't think he'll be happy after losing half his men and the hold-up money."

They set off down the hall together.  But even through the worn satisfaction of having some answers, Hutch was too aware that it really changed nothing at all.

He spent the night alternating between the empty hospital chapel, the waiting room with Terry, and brief stops in the ICU, watching Starsky lying motionless, fighting one battle Hutch couldn't fight with him.  It was one of the few things either of them had done without the other in recent memory.  Sitting with Terry only seemed to make the loneliness worse, and Hutch had spent the last few hours of the darkness of night mostly in the chapel, the only place that didn't feel quite so alone.

But his heart was still dark and heavy, his soul wearier than his body, when Dobey came to pick him up for the hearing.

It was unusual to have a hearing the day after an arrest, but that they were nevertheless sitting in the small courtroom less than twenty-four hours later was testament to Dobey's determination, and the gravity of a cop-shooting.  Only stern Judge Hardcastle, the just-arrived SPD captain, Dobey and Hutch were present when they brought the two women in.

Hutch stared at them as they entered, fury cooling slightly at the sight of Kate.  Where he'd expected the arrogance of most of those he'd seen stand before the court in his years on the force, the last thing he expected was the sadness that was plain in her eyes, the way she held herself, her walk.  Not just for being caught, either, because there was also honest pain there, and when she saw him watching her, she looked away, unable to meet his eyes.  For a moment, the what-ifs of his own life hit a little too close for comfort.

Then Maddie defiantly met his gaze and Hutch's sympathy drained away.  He could finally place where he'd seen eyes like her empty, angry ones before.  On those who killed without remorse, without any feeling at all.  Yet another example of not knowing what he was seeing until it was too late, blinded by his expectations, his typecasting.  Hutch jogged his good leg restlessly as he waited for the proceedings to start and tried not to dwell on his guilt.

Starsky had told him that once, too.

There were the usual formalities: the discussion of charges, two pleadings of not-guilty, and the introduction of evidence and Hutch's testimony.  And, finally, with his nerves fairly screaming for him to return to the hospital, came the verdict.

Hardcastle, a crag-faced, white-haired, tough judge with a reputation for "hanging 'em high," frowned down at the two women who had been directed to stand before him.

"Katherine Ann Tanner.  While this court can't stomach officers who break the law they've sworn to protect, this hearing is only to determine whether you should be held over for charges for the attempted murder of Detective David Starsky of the LAPD.  For this charge, the court does not find enough evidence to hold you for trial."  He said it like the words tasted rancid.  "I'm placing you in the custody of your captain until your department has finished its investigation into the conspiracy, theft, and abetting charges that are currently being considered against you.  I'm sure you'll find the justice there you managed to avoid here, young lady."

Hutch couldn't see her expression from behind, but had seen her shoulders straighten as he began to talk, and sag as he ended.  And wasn't sure if he was relieved or upset.

Hardcastle's sharp glare swung to Maddie.

"Madeline Susan Crea.  You, on the other hand, aren't getting off so lightly.  This court finds plenty of evidence that you are guilty of shooting Officer Starsky with the attempt to kill him.  His being a fellow officer doesn't seem like it means much to you, but we don't put up with traitors in the ranks here.  I wish I could throw the book at you myself, but unless you want to change your plea, you're remanded into custody until your trial.  Bond is denied."

Maddie, Hutch saw puzzledly, seemed to shrink at that last and now wheeled toward Kate.

"Katie, they're talking about jail.  I can't go there, you know I can't."

Kate was reaching out toward her.  "It's just for a little while, I promise.  We'll work this out, Maddie–"

But Maddie wasn't listening any longer.  As the bailiffs moved to replace her handcuffs, she gave a shriek and lashed out at the closest one, sending him crashing to the floor, while the other jumped her from behind.  Hutch half stood, ready to go help, but the court officers quickly had the situation under control, dragging the kicking and screaming Maddie out of the courtroom while the DA kept a restraining arm on Kate.  Hardcastle just glowered at everyone, only softening briefly as his gaze met Hutch's.

"I'm sorry about your partner, Detective."

Hutch nodded absently, trying to feel some satisfaction that justice had been done, that the person who'd shot Starsky was getting what she deserved.  But the real terror he'd seen in Maddie's eyes had just hollowed him out even more, not filling anything, and the helpless, hurting expression on Kate's face as she watched her partner go struck too close to home.

Maddie's screams finally died away, and Kate tore her eyes away to find Hutch.  He stared at her a long moment, trying to find his earlier hate and failing, then turned and silently walked out of the courtroom.

Even if he wasn't needed at the hospital, _he_ needed to be there more than ever.

Terry had gone in to sit with Starsky for a while, leaving Hutch to fight claustrophobia in the small, empty waiting room.  Only the knowledge his partner was nearby and they were in some measure together again was able to calm him to some degree.  Even so, Hutch found himself sitting in paralyzed panic on the sofa, trying not to think of police funerals and calling Starsky's mom and the total hopelessness of finding someone else with whom he fit as perfectly and starting over again.  It wasn't possible.  _You go, buddy, I go._

He'd said that before to his partner, when Starsky had been disheartened by the System after Helen and her murderer's deaths.  Starsky had said as much to him after Hutch had been forced to kill a dirty cop in their own department.  If it got too much for one of them, the other would have walked with him, all or nothing.  They'd never talked about what if there was only one of them left to walk.  Going alone seemed almost as unbearable an idea as staying there alone.

Hutch ran a hand through his hair, exhaling shakily.  _You're usually the one who's going crazy, not me._ Starsky was the pacer, the one with all the nervous energy.  They were opposites in just about everything; how they'd become friends, Hutch could never figure.  _Best luck I ever had._ Hutch stood again, took a step, found he had nowhere to go, and sat once more.  With Terry there, he'd held it together, that wonderful cop training coming into play, but now that he was alone, the loneliness was awful.  _No wonder I'm talking to you as if you could hear me.  God, I wish he could hear me . . ._ Hutch clasped his hands between his knees and willed himself not to come apart at the straining seams.

"Detective Hutchinson?"

It was the last voice he'd expected to hear, and Hutch's head shot up, startled, to see Kate Tanner standing hesitantly at the door.

"Hutch?  I-I'm sorry to bother you, but I had to talk to you."

"What're you doing here?" he blurted his first thought as he jumped to his feet.

She was in the same clothes she'd been wearing in the courtroom, a nice skirt and jacket set that now looked wrinkled and worn.  It matched her expression, the way she fiddled with her purse strap.  She smiled, sardonic and sad at once.  "I didn't run away, if that's what you're thinking.  My captain knows I'm here.  But I had to see you."

"Why?"  The falling-apart feeling had gone away, replaced by a weary anger.

She took a step into the room, then another, but at Hutch's hard stare didn't advance farther or take a seat.  Still, her chin came up defiantly.  "I want to ask you to help me with Maddie."

It wasn't what he'd expected, but Hutch didn't blink, didn't even move.  At the very least, he wasn't going to make this easy.

Kate's shoulders came down an inch.  "You don't understand.  She used to be a great cop.  She had a bunch of commendations before we even met.  She wasn't like she is now.  She was happy and fun and a little crazy, in a good way.  I learned a lot from her.  She was a great partner.  Then. . ."  She swallowed, her gaze dropping.  "One of our last cases in Vice, she went undercover at a women's prison to break up a prostitution ring.  Only . . . it went bad, and before I could get her out, she– She went through hell, Hutch.  It took her months before she could even go back to work, and she was . . . different after that."

Even if he'd had the strength, Hutch couldn't have fought the memory of long hours of withdrawal up in Huggy's room, Starsky the only thing between him and madness, or the start of real heroin addiction.  He knew too well what she was talking about, and despite himself, Hutch felt the pull of sympathy toward Kate.

The Sacramento detective's arms had come up to hug herself as she talked.  "It was my fault for not getting her out sooner, but she never blamed me."  Tears would have been less heart-breaking than the smile she flashed him.  "You know how it is.  So when she started slipping, I covered for her.  I didn't realize until it was too late how deep she'd gotten, but by that time. . ."  She refocused on him.  "Maddie can't go to jail again.  You can see why.  She'd kill herself first.  Please, I'm asking you, I'm begging you.  Talk to the judge.  Work something out so–"

His face had drawn into what he suspected was a chilly frown.  "So, what?  She can go free?  I couldn't do that if I wanted to.  Even if she hadn't killed a man in that hold-up, she shot Starsky.  He's still hanging on to his life in there because we trusted you, and you want me to–"

"She's my _partner_."  The words broke out from her with a lurch.

"And he's mine," Hutch spat.  "My partner and my best friend, who didn't do anything wrong except for trusting you two, and you expect me to just forgive you and help you both go free?  What would you do in my shoes, Kate?"

"I can help you catch Chris."

"That's not a deal I can make."

"You could put in a good word for it if you wanted to."

"Tell me why I should."

"It wasn't her fault.  She's mixed up–"

"She _killed_ people, Kate.  What happened to her in that prison wasn't her fault.  What she did with it, is."

Kate's voice fell to a mournful whisper.  "We're only human, Hutch.  We make mistakes, too."

Hutch drew back a little, taking a long breath.  "I think you proved just how human we all are when you put a bullet in my partner."

Their eyes held for a long minute, the fear in hers triggering the old instinct of protectiveness despite himself, and the no less engrained respect for partnership, a motivation he understood more than he wanted to.  She was as desperate to save her partner as he was to help his.  The only difference was, hers had done this to his in the first place.  And as much as he felt sorry for her, even understood her, there was no forgetting or completely forgiving that.

She finally winced and shook her head.  "I am sorry about Starsky.  I think Maddie is, too, in her own way.  Chris just pushed her so hard about not leaving any witnesses, covering our tracks, that she–"  Her pale cheeks flushed faintly.  "I tried to stop her, but I was too late.  I really hope he'll be all right."

He nodded mutely, not ready to answer that.

Kate turned, hopelessness in her bearing, pausing only once to turn at the door.  "I'm gonna fight for her, though.  She's still my partner."  And then she walked out.

Leaving him silently nodding his understanding to the empty room.

     The hours dragged around the face of the clock.  Terry had to leave for a while to take care of urgent business at her school.  Dobey called to say Kate had offered to deliver Chris Langley in exchange for a lighter charge for Maddie, and they were discussing possibilities.  Hutch wholeheartedly told his boss he no longer cared.  The hate was completely gone, leaving only the heavy mix of hope and hopelessness in its wake.  Oddly enough, it turned out to be a lighter and less lonely load than the anger had been.  Now there were moments of peace, of acceptance, however brief, when he sat in the anodynic silence of the hospital chapel.

     And still Starsky didn't wake, his condition unchanging.

     How were you supposed to move on when the person you were always with had stopped?

     The sun set.  Terry had called in close to ten to say she was still at school, and he'd made her promise she would go home and sleep and not return until the morning.  Starsky's heartbeat picked up a fraction but still sounded too slow.  Dobey stopped in on the way home and outlined some sort of plan to catch Langley that Hutch had heard only superficially despite his best intentions.  Starsky stirred minutely, going still as Hutch turned tired, hopeful eyes toward him.  Huggy had shown up with a change of clothing from Hutch's place and a warm ham-and-cheese sandwich that had long since congealed into a cold lump on a nearby counter.  Starsky slept on obliviously.

But mostly Hutch sat or stood beside his partner's bed, alternating staring at the unmoving figure and staring out the window, too tired to do anything but let his thoughts drift.

     The birthday party Starsky had thrown him when he'd hit 30, complete with a walker painted red with a white stripe.

     Going to New York to meet Starsky's mom and realizing, really realizing for the first time, that he was closer to his partner than any of Starsky's blood relatives.

     Talking to Starsky in the weeks after the death of Jack Mitchell, Hutch's high school best friend, and being struck that the saying had it all wrong.  _He_ seemed to be stuck with his "friends," but he'd been able to choose his family.

     The beloved wreck of a car, nearly a carbon copy of the totaled one, Starsky had painstakingly found and gotten him after his accident.

     The sadness in Starsky's eyes – even after Hutch had hit him for being the messenger – after Gillian was murdered.

     The unending gentleness with which the man had seen Hutch through the ugliness of withdrawal after picking him up out of that dirty back alley Hutch had escaped to and collapsed in.

     His eyes prickled behind his gritty eyelids no matter how much Hutch rubbed them.

     A soft sound caught his attention and he looked up at the bed.  Starsky's eyes were still shut as he lay motionless in the bed, except for the hand that slowly turned toward him and opened.

     And with a gulped sob and a trembling grin, Hutch reached out and tightly, gently, gripped it.

     Hutch stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, contentedly admiring the bouquet of flowers that stood on a cart against the opposite wall, waiting for delivery to a patient.  All deep blues and purples, it seemed so vibrant and alive.  Life was good; there was a lot to celebrate about life, and he was doing so with all his heart.

     The door beside him opened and he turned with a smile toward Terry, just coming out.  Her nose was swollen and red and she was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, but her smile was at least as wide as Hutch's and it made her look beautiful.

     "Rip Van Winkle awake?" Hutch asked her.

     "Still falling asleep in the middle of every sentence, but yeah, sometimes.  He said he was sorry, the dummy."

     He put an arm around her and they started down the hall.  "I always told him I was the brains of the outfit.  You sure you don't want to go out with me, instead?"

     She elbowed him lightly.  "I'll tell Dave you said that when he's on his feet again and can get you back for it.  Didn't they teach you at the Academy it's not nice to kick a man when he's down?"

     Hutch raised his free hand defensively.  "Hey, he'd do the same for me in my place.  Besides, you know Starsk, he won't be down for long."

     "Yeah."  They both slowly sobered.  The euphoria of the last few hours was becoming tempered with the reality there would still be hurdles ahead: a recovery period, pain, and limitations for a while to come.  Still, life was what mattered most, and Hutch was just starting to be able to breathe deeply again as that soaked in.

     Now it was time to return to business.

     They stopped at the waiting room doorway, Terry turning to give him a meaningful look.  "You have to go."

     "I have to wrap up this case.  But I'll be back by dinner.  Maybe the three of us could eat together."

     The corner of her mouth twisted.  "Jello, maybe.  I don't think Dave's going to be eating solids for a while."  She paused.  "Is this is about the woman who shot him?"

     She knew the barest details of the case, enough to give her some explanation for the anguish she'd been going through.  Hutch nodded.  "That's part of it.  I need to finish this for Starsky's sake."

     Terry nodded.  "For your sake, too.  G'wan," she nudged him again.  "I'll tell him you'll be back soon if he's awake enough to listen to me."

     "You do that.  Maybe I can bring us back some of Starsky's favorite hamburgers, and we can eat them in front of him and make him drool."

     She laughed and gave him a push toward the elevator.

     Thank God for Terry.  It felt great to be bantering with someone again, especially with someone whose sense of humor was almost as warped as Starsky's.  Hutch's grin lasted until the elevator doors closed and his thoughts turned to the task ahead.

     His call to Dobey after Starsky had woken had gotten him the details that had eluded him before, about what was going on with the Langley case.  Kate seemed to have some idea of how to reach the gang leader, or at least to let him find her, and she was going to lead him and his men into the LAPD's arms.  Supposedly.  Hutch grimaced.  Dobey's trust in Tanner was limited at best, too, and he was only allowing her to try her plan because they had no other.  For Hutch, personal betrayal and wariness vied with sympathy and the need to trust her for this.  He did…but only to a certain extent.

Dobey hadn't expected him to want to be a part of the take-down, for which Hutch was grateful; it let him follow up an idea of his own.  If he'd read Kate Tanner right, if she felt as he did toward her partner, Hutch had an idea there was part of her plan Kate hadn't shared with Dobey, which meant he had some work to do.

Maybe it would help him figure out what he was feeling, too.

     His partner rarely anguished over what was done and past.  As he climbed into the Torino, Hutch found himself envying that trait an awful lot.

     The prisoner transport wagon pulled away from Parker on schedule, only three prisoners on board that day for transfer to the county jail.  One of them was a woman who'd fought and struggled and had had to be nearly carried out by four strong officers.

     Hutch had watched from the shadows of a nearby corner, then as the van pulled away, smoothly maneuvered his partner's car to follow.

     Across town, somewhere in Griffith Park, Dobey and a cadre of detectives and uniforms were waiting to catch Chris Langley and his men when Kate Tanner led them to where she'd told them the hold-up money was hidden.  Hutch had no doubt the men would show up and the trap would be sprung successfully and soon.  But he was betting neither Kate nor Langley would be among them.  The fact that Maddie Crea's transfer to the county jail was happening at the same time miles away had been a little too coincidental.  And more of a lure than he figured Kate could resist.

It was a long shot, which was why he was the only one pulling out behind the truck.  But it was what he would have done in her shoes.

     Hutch drove slowly in the thin early afternoon traffic, keeping a few cars away from the police wagon.  Maybe he should have taken his own LTD; the Torino stuck out like a bright red beacon on the road, but he'd always preferred at least taking his partner's car when his partner couldn't be there himself.  Well, it was too late now, and Hutch was counting on the narrowness of Kate's focus.

     A blue convertible appeared in the corner of his eye.

     Hutch hung back even farther, watching as the car with its two occupants turned out onto the main street, just behind the prison van.  It stayed there for two blocks before making a casual lane change to the left of the wagon, then slowly starting to move up.

     Hutch did the same, keeping his distance even as his eyes darted around the street, mapping out the best route to catch up within moments if needed.  Then his eyes were back on the convertible.  He didn't have a plan – the thought of Starsky in that hospital still had a way of short-circuiting his thinking skills – except for the simple goal of not letting any of them get away this time, especially Maddie.  Dobey would probably roast him alive for doing this so half-baked and alone, but Hutch didn't particularly care about that at the moment.  Nothing mattered just then except for that van and convertible.

     He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't been anticipating it.  The gun barrel barely protruded from the car's passenger side, the flash of gunfire almost invisible and inaudible in the busy city street.  The explosion of the front wheel of the police van was a little more dramatic, but it only caused a sharp swerve that was quickly corrected by the van driver before the large vehicle pulled to the side of the road.

     Hutch moved up a car, then another, only two between him and the parked van now, closing slowly.

     Two figures got out of the convertible, sun glinting off the driver's long, dark hair.  But Hutch had already known it was Kate.  There was a gun in her hands and she held it on the two men in the van's front seat, gesturing them to throw their weapons out.  They obeyed, while the other figure – Chris Langley, no doubt – went around to the back of the wagon.  Interesting.  Apparently she hadn't trusted Langley not to kill the officers.  It was that spark of the cop she must have been that Hutch couldn't help admiring each time.  He drew his own gun as he slipped into a space along the curb, only a parked car now between him and the van.

     Langley shot open the back door of the van with practiced aim, and a moment later he was pulling Maddie out, who came willingly enough.  Her hands were shackled for the transfer, but it barely slowed her as she darted around the side of the van, heading for her partner.  Kate was just tearing out the microphone receiver from the van, tossing it aside as she turned toward Maddie, her stiff, haunted expression melting into a smile at the sight of the other woman.

     Hutch eased the Torino door open and slipped out, staying low.

     Langley stepped from behind the van, presumably to join them.  That was when Hutch realized his gun was raised.

     "Kate!"  He shot upright, yelling a warning as he did.

     Two startled faces swung toward him.  One of them – Maddie – saw Langley at the same time, aiming for Kate.  She jumped just as Langley fired, a second before Hutch did.  And collapsed the same moment Langley did.  Hutch could see the blood spreading across her jumpsuit from where he stood.

     "Oh, God!  Maddie."  Kate's eyes were huge with the too-late realization of what was happening, and she broke her partner's fall with a frantic lunge.  They sank to the ground together, Maddie in her arms, and Kate glanced around, looking for help.  And in that elongated second as she and Hutch locked eyes, he could see she already knew it was too late.

     His first duty was to secure the scene.  Langley was only a few steps away now, but even before he reached the body, it was evident the gang leader was dead from Hutch's bullet, sprawled on his back on the street, empty eyes opened and ever so faintly surprised.

     Hutch closed them without remorse and only a little regret, collected the man's weapon, and walked over to crouch in front of the two Sacramento detectives.  The two officers from the van had also gotten out, one going to secure the remaining prisoners while the other hovered uncertainly, knowing just as Hutch did that he was watching a death scene.

     Maddie whispered something to Kate as she bent over her, Maddie's bloody hand reaching out to tug a few strands of her partner's hair, as intimate a moment as Hutch had ever shared with his partner.  Then she smiled, the first real smile he'd seen on her face.

The next moment her eyes closed and she was gone, her expression peaceful.

     Kate started to sob, a harsh, ugly sound, her other arm going around her partner to embrace her as she wept and rocked, no longer aware of anyone or anything but her grief.

     Hutch wilted, feeling old and tired, gun hanging limply from his hand for a minute, before he wearily climbed to his feet to limp to the car and call in that it was over.

     "We got 'em all?"  Starsky's voice was a bare whisper, punctuated by long blinks and breathy pauses.  Even talking still wore him out, but at least he was talking.  Hutch wasn't being too picky just then.

     He smiled slightly, nodding once.  "All of 'em.  Dobey has the rest of the gang locked up and I got Langley."

     "What 'bout Maddie an' Kate?"

     Hutch's smile faded.  "Maddie's dead.  Langley killed her before I had a chance to stop him.  Kate's going back to Sacramento when all the loose ends are tied up.  As far as Dobey's concerned, she was trying to stop Langley from breaking Maddie out, not helping him, and the money was all Maddie's.  Kate's paid enough.  I think the department'll leave her alone if she resigns.  I don't think she wants to be a cop anymore, anyway."

     His partner was trying to search his face and read him, but his eyes kept going out of focus, too drugged and tired to be as perceptive as usual.

     Hutch's gaze gentled, and his thumb massaged the back of the hand he held.  "I didn't let her die, if that's what you're wondering.  I didn't realize what Langley was planning until it was too late."

     Starsky was already on empty, but he shook his head minutely.  "That i'n't it."

     Hutch looked at him a long minute.  "They were partners, Starsk," he finally said, softly.  "Kate was covering for her because she didn't know what else to do.  And Maddie died to save her."

     Starsky's eyelids finally got too heavy and closed.  There was a long minute of silence and Hutch wondered if the invalid had dozed off again as he was wont to do.  That conversation was already the longest they'd had since Starsky had been shot.

     His eyes hadn't reopened when he spoke, the words slurred and spaced, but with the determination that was so Starsky.

     "Don' think so mush. . ."  Hutch's hand was squeezed with fading strength before Starsky's grip went slack.

     Hutch sat, stiff, until he realized he was in danger of crushing his sleeping partner's hand.  It was really rattling sometimes that someone knew how to read his mind when he couldn't, even half asleep and not fully tracking.  Starsky no doubt knew that he was trying to make sense of it, torn by understanding the bond of partnership while wondering how it could have become so twisted to include breaking the law and nearly killing Starsky.

But maybe it didn't have to make sense.  Maddie wasn't Starsky; she'd gone in a direction he never would have, and had left Kate to make choices Hutch found impossible to consider.  Maybe he and Starsky would have made some wrong choices if they'd faced those same tests.  But then again, they'd survived their own crucibles.  After Forest and the heroin, Starsky's poisoning, his kidnapping by Marcus's men, Gillian's death and Hutch's crash into Topanga Canyon, things could have gone in so many different directions.  Yet there they were, more or less in one piece morally, physically, and mentally, healing, together.

Hutch sighed, reaching out to rest a hand on the dark curls, then sliding it down against a warm, unshaven cheek, remembering Maddie's like gesture before she'd died.  No, they weren't Kate and Maddie.  But the similarities were enough to remind him how truly fortunate he and Starsky were.

"Rest well, buddy," he said quietly before laying the still hand carefully down and leaving his friend to sleep.

Starsky with a cane reminded Hutch of a dog he'd seen as a child that had gotten a foot caught in a can: you didn't know whether to sympathize or laugh.  Why you needed a cane for an abdominal injury was something he hadn't quite figured out, either.  The cane looked suspiciously like the one Starsky had used to gain sympathy, and time off, after his poisoning, but he'd insisted he needed it and Hutch was in no mood to argue.  Having his partner back, at the station no less, had left him too cheerful to argue much of anything.

He held the elevator door while Starsky hobbled out, then grabbed him as his partner's foot caught on the edge of the elevator car.  Starsky winced, paling briefly before regaining his equilibrium.  Okay, so maybe he needed the cane.  Although he hadn't said as much, it was obvious he still got tired just crossing a room, let alone coming into work.  Hutch didn't say a word, just lingered a protective step away as he had all the way into Parker, earning him yet another unheated glare from Starsky.  The brunet had complained about the weather, the car's suspension, the wait for the elevator, and the need to stop off at Parker for paperwork to work on at home, but neither of them was ready to complain about the other.  Yet.

The short walk to the squadroom took five times as long as usual, but it was worth it when a chorus of welcomes and impromptu cheers broke out at Starsky's arrival.  Hutch was buoyed even further when he saw the grin it brought to the illness-gaunt face, and soon had Starsky settled in a nearby chair to receive well-wishers while he gathered what he'd come for.

     Hutch was sorting files when movement out in the hallway drew his eye.  Kate Tanner was just leaving Dobey's office next door and heading down the hallway.

     With a glance at Starsky, who looked content where he was and oblivious to Kate, Hutch snuck out of the squadroom.

     She jerked when he said her name, and turned with clear reluctance to meet him.  Hutch hid a wince when he saw her.  In the last week, she'd grown years older, her face lined and weary, her eyes sad and too experienced.  But at second glance there was also an accepting serenity there that both surprised him and didn't.

     "You're going back," he concluded.

     She pursed her lips and said simply, "It's home."

     Hutch touched her arm.  "Are you going to be all right?"

     "Someday, I think.  I hope.  Not yet.  She's finally found her peace and I know that.  But. . ."

     "She was your partner," Hutch finished knowingly.

     Kate pursed her lips, looked at the floor, nodded.

     He could only feel sympathy for her now, and honest sorrow.  Hutch moved his hand up to her shoulder.  "If there's anything I can do to help. . ."

     She sputtered a laugh.  "I think we've all done enough, don't you?"

     That was the first thing she said that didn't ring true, and Hutch followed his instincts, pulling her to him for a brief embrace.  She clung back just as briefly before she pushed him away and dashed her hand across her eyes.

     "Don't– I can't. . . I'll be okay.  Cap's going back with me.  He's a good guy.  I'll be fine."

     He didn't doubt it, but he also knew the awful emptiness she'd have to go through before she got there.

     Kate looked up at him, her eyes still damp and shining.  "I'm glad Starsky's okay."  And then she turned and walked away in quick strides that begged him not follow her.

     He didn't, just stared after her a long time before finally returning to the squadroom.

     Starsky was starting to fidget, probably a combination of physical discomfort and boredom, wondering where Hutch was.  He stopped at the sight of the blond, his old grin returning even if it looked a little strange on the thin face.  "You ready?  I'm starvin'."

     Hutch's eyebrow went up.  "You know the doctor's orders – nothing heavy for the first two days, just soft foods and liquids."  He went back to their desk, collecting the stack of files he'd pulled.  Dobey had understood before Hutch even asked, his need to stay with Starsky a few days longer, but the car crash had left him without sick or leave days to drawn on, so they'd compromised with paperwork done from home.

     Starsky heaved an aggrieved sigh.  "How am I supposed to get stronger when all I can have is oatmeal and juice?"

     "Don't forget milkshakes."  Hutch stopped beside him to offer a hand up, which was taken with a glance of gratitude.  Even that small excursion had taken its toll, Starsky leaning heavily on his cane as they made their way back to the elevator.  "I'll bet Terry would be glad to make you some."

     That instantly brightened his friend.  "Hey, that's good.  What about ice cream?"

     "I think ice cream would be okay."  He already had a pint of Starsky's favorite fudge ripple in the freezer, but there was no use telling him at that moment or he'd be impatient the whole way home.  Like a little kid, Hutch shook his head.

     "And malts?" Starsky asked hopefully.

     "Sure.  If it's in a cup and isn't alcoholic, you can have it."  Hutch was starting to smile.

     "How 'bout a taco in a cup?"

     His glare earned him a sheepish I-had-to-try look.  But the playfulness was clearly an effort, the strain of all the movement obvious in Starsky's sweating, pale face.  Hutch juggled files and freed a hand again to wrap around his partner's upper arm, giving him an extra bit of support.

     "Tanner leave okay?" came the sudden subdued question from beside him.

     He didn't have to look to know the hooded expression he'd find on Starsky's face.  "Yeah."

     "Good."  The comment was a little harder in tone than usual for him; no doubt Starsky still had his reservations about the partner of a crooked cop who'd shot him.  But obviously he'd seen Hutch with Kate, and there was no hard feelings there as he leaned unreservedly on his friend while they made their way out to the car.  He did give Hutch a searching look as he helped Starsky get settled into the Torino.  But apparently satisfied with what he saw, he was soon thinking up new foods to try to get away with, and Hutch was soon laughing at the ideas, each more outrageous than the last.

     No worries about thinking too much with that goofball around.  Starsky wouldn't let him get too lost in his thoughts and could-have-beens.  Hutch could have told him the distraction was unnecessary; he knew how much he had to be grateful for as he pulled up in front of Starsky's place.  He not only had his partner, intact and there beside him, but his job and his moral code, too.  He was sorry for Kate and wished her well, but ultimately, all he could do was learn from her example and appreciate that he already had all that really mattered.

     And unfolding his stiff leg from the car without a wince, Hutch went around to help his partner home.


End file.
